Jury Convicts Georgia Man in Boiled Water Attack on Gay Couple

Martin Blackwell, 48, was found guilty of aggravated battery and aggravated assault

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Martin Blackwell watches arguments in his trial in Atlanta, on Aug. 24, 2016. Blackwell was convicted of pouring hot water two gay men as they slept and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

A Georgia man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday for throwing scalding water on a gay couple spying in an apartment, NBC News reported.

Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Martin Blackwell, 48, guilty of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the February attack on Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert.

Gooden spent about a month in the hospital — two weeks of that in a medically-induced coma. Both men suffered severe burns that required multiple surgeries and skin grafts.

According to prosecutors, it was a premeditated attack. Tolbert testified that after pouring the boiling water on them, Blackwell grabbed him as he jumped and screamed, telling him: “Get out of my house with all that gay.”

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